Francesco Aquilini says "I have no plans to make changes."

[iceman64]

5 hours ago, arsenalian said:

A Wisers slow clap for you. How people expect to have a competitive team in year 7, with the poop show Benning took over; aging team full of NTC and NMCs. It’s amazing how stocked the cupboards are now. Has he made some bad moves? Yes, show me a GM who hasn’t. This year is a weird one. Personally I’d written it off before it even started. Burning a year off LE’s contract in a year line this is good. I think next year (if normal) with traing camp etc, team will look fine and should be competitive. Once some of these big salaries are off the books, and a couple more key players brought in. We’ll finally see what I believe is JB’s true final product. 

That's pretty much it in a nutshell but seems there's plenty of nut jobs out there thinking something else is going on other than the truth of the situation... probably nut job media b.s. isn't helping either but whatever, maybe they'll catch on eventually, I'm sure one can only feel like an idiot so many times before feeling led on by someone who really doesn't know shi_t

Edited February 18, 2021 by iceman64

[CanadianRugby]

[kanucks25]

12 minutes ago, CanadianRugby said:

Yeah but at least they filled the age-gap during those early years so lol that's pretty much like a Stanley Cup equivalent

[Honky Cat]

23 minutes ago, CanadianRugby said:

You've placed a couple of quotes out of context

'This is a team we can turn around in a hurry' Benning was referencing the 2013-14 Canucks, and he did indeed 'turn it around' into a 101 point playoff team.

The second quote you can sort of hold him accountable for,.by year 5 he assembled one of the best young cores in the league, and got to the 2nd round in the playoffs.

This season (especially the first 15 games) have been brutal, I think the last 4 games is more indicative of how they can play.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Honky Cat

[kanucks25]

1 minute ago, Honky Cat said:

'This is a team we can turn around in a hurry' Benning was referencing the 2013-14 Canucks, and he did indeed 'turn it around' into a 101 point playoff team.

You talking about that team that was mostly composed of the apparent "wasteland" Benning inherited?

 

What a concept.

 

Crazy how a 101 point playoff team can be made up of players that allegedly have no value.

[Honky Cat]

31 minutes ago, kanucks25 said:

You talking about that team that was mostly composed of the apparent "wasteland" Benning inherited?

 

What a concept.

 

Crazy how a 101 point playoff team can be made up of players that allegedly have no value.

We were talking about the beginning of the 2014-15 season.Torts had tanked a lot of value of players on the team (an ageing core and barren prospect pool)

The acquisition of Vrbata and Bonino had a big part in the success of that season.which was the final last gasp of the 2011 core

After we were eliminated by the Flames, it was apparent to me that this core was cooked...

Who in your mind, from that 2014-15 squad, had lots of value?..and could be traded?

Edited February 17, 2021 by Honky Cat

[Gurn]

23 minutes ago, kanucks25 said:

Crazy how a 101 point playoff team can be made up of players that allegedly have no value.

 

How many NTC on that team?

[smokes]

If I was Aquillini, I would be keeping Benning too. It's not like the Canucks are making money right now if at all so not resigning Markstrom and Tanev saves him a lot of money to the point that maybe he has a chance to break even. Benning takes the blame for it and deflects the criticism that comes from these cost cutting moves. He saves a little bit of money in the long term and Benning deflects the blame. Benning has his use.

[kanucks25]

7 minutes ago, Honky Cat said:

We were talking about the beginning of the 2014-15 season.Torts had tanked a lot of value of players on the team (an ageing core and barren prospect pool)

The acquisition of Vrbata and Bonino had a big part in the success of that season.which was the final last gasp of the 2011 core

After we were eliminated by the Flames, it was apparent to me that this core was cooked...

Who in your mind, from that 2014-15 squad, had lots of value?..and could be traded?

I really liked Bonino but his contribution that year wasn't anything more than what Kesler would have given us.

 

Vrbata was indeed a key acquisition. But Radim Vrbata alone doesn't turn a wasteland into a good playoff team.

 

3 minutes ago, gurn said:

How many NTC on that team?

NTC's don't bring a players value down to zero. A lot of good, established players have NTC's in their contract and players with NTC's get traded all the time.

 

Anyone ever consider that Benning could have *gasp* made better trades than what he did? In general, the notion that whatever Benning did is best case scenario is simply laughable.

[Honky Cat]

15 minutes ago, kanucks25 said:

I really liked Bonino but his contribution that year wasn't anything more than what Kesler would have given us.

 

Vrbata was indeed a key acquisition. But Radim Vrbata alone doesn't turn a wasteland into a good playoff team.

 

NTC's don't bring a players value down to zero. A lot of good, established players have NTC's in their contract and players with NTC's get traded all the time.

 

Anyone ever consider that Benning could have *gasp* made better trades than what he did? In general, the notion that whatever Benning did is best case scenario is simply laughable.

The core was aged out, and we had a barren prospect pool (Torts, "slow and stale").This was going to take more than 2-3 years to fix.

That 2014-15 team was not a 'good' team. This was completely clear to all, after being easily dispatched by the Flames

One more time.Who are these great assets we had which were moveable after the 2014-15 season?.

 

[kanucks25]

41 minutes ago, Honky Cat said:

The core was aged out, and we had a barren prospect pool (Torts, "slow and stale").This was going to take more than 2-3 years to fix.

When did I ever say that it'd take less than 2-3 years?

 

41 minutes ago, Honky Cat said:

That 2014-15 team was not a 'good' team.

But they made the playoffs?

 

So in general, what exactly did you mean by the below comment?

 

1 hour ago, Honky Cat said:

'This is a team we can turn around in a hurry' Benning was referencing the 2013-14 Canucks, and he did indeed 'turn it around' into a 101 point playoff team.

What exactly was the point of "turning it around" for one year? Was it to revitalize the trade value of the older players he inherited? If so, then why was Bieksa pretty much the only one that was traded away?

 

41 minutes ago, Honky Cat said:

One more time.Who are these great assets we had which were moveable after the 2014-15 season?.

 

Green: guys that easily had value that could have been traded, only one - Bieksa - was (well, Bonino, too, but for a worse player of the same age)

Red: UFA's that were let go

Purple: guys targeted by Benning that he was probably looking to keep long-term

Blue: inherited players that Benning was probably looking to keep

Pink: Sbisa

 

We have nothing to show for this entire list, other than the two guys we still have and whatever experience/knowledge was passed down to Horvat.

 

So, when you couple this with the fact that Benning has never weaponized cap space (except against himself this past off-season) even during a 4-year dumpster fire of a stretch where we had no expectations whatsoever of icing a competitive team (see below graphic, and warning: it is quite graphic) it's no wonder why we're well past that "year 4 or 5" window Benning talked about and we're being asked to wait until year 9 to see how it pans out.

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by kanucks25

[Honky Cat]

35 minutes ago, kanucks25 said:

When did I ever say that it'd take less than 2-3 years?

 

But they made the playoffs?

 

So in general, what exactly did you mean by the below comment?

 

What exactly was the point of "turning it around" for one year? Was it to revitalize the trade value of the older players he inherited? If so, then why was Bieksa pretty much the only one that was traded away?

 

 

Green: guys that easily had value that could have been traded, only one - Bieksa - was (well, Bonino, too, but for a worse player of the same age)

Red: UFA's that were let go

Purple: guys targeted by Benning that he was probably looking to keep long-term

Blue: inherited players that Benning was probably looking to keep

Pink: Sbisa

 

We have nothing to show for this entire list, other than the two guys we still have and whatever experience/knowledge was passed down to Horvat.

 

So, when you couple this with the fact that Benning has never weaponized cap space (except against himself this past off-season) even during a 4-year dumpster fire of a stretch where we had no expectations whatsoever of icing a competitive team (see below graphic, and warning: it is quite graphic) it's no wonder why we're well past that "year 4 or 5" window Benning talked about and we're being asked to wait until year 9 to see how it pans out.

 

Again, the 'turning it around ' comment was based on the 2013-14 Canucks, not turning the franchise around...Higgins ,Burrows and Hansen were never going to get a whole lot (especially with their salaries)

The point of turning it around was to compete for the newly signed Sedins.The team had indicated that there was' not' going to a rebuild months before Benning was even hired.

They were not going to trade pieces that were going to keep them competitive, so all this talk of weaponizing cap space, and collecting draft picks was never in the cards.

We missed the playoffs 4 years in a row? while transitioning to a new core.How many years does it take in your mind to completely transition a core ? .Look around the league and see how long other teams have (or currently) missed the post season during a transition period.

More than anything it just demonstrates that you're an impatient fan.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Honky Cat

[CanadianRugby]

2 hours ago, Honky Cat said:

You've placed a couple of quotes out of context

'This is a team we can turn around in a hurry' Benning was referencing the 2013-14 Canucks, and he did indeed 'turn it around' into a 101 point playoff team.

The second quote you can sort of hold him accountable for,.by year 5 he assembled one of the best young cores in the league, and got to the 2nd round in the playoffs.

This season (especially the first 15 games) have been brutal, I think the last 4 games is more indicative of how they can play.

How is it out of context?  It shows the dates right there in the quotes. 

 

Yes, he was talking about turning around the 2013 Canucks to compete.  That's the point, the team should have been rebuilding.  That plan, was a fail.

 

The 2nd quote shows that the plan was to compete with the elite teams by 2018, it's why money was thrown at free agents to compete right away.  That plan, was a fail. 

 

Now it's 2021 and people are pointing to our shiny core like I'm sure tons of Oiler fans did for years while that core was surrounded, much like ours, by expensive ineffective players.  Now the advantage (of great young players on entry contracts) the Canucks have had is ending, and a new phase begins.  In this phase our core will get paid and the supporting cast needs to vastly improve while getting paid a lot less.   That will be a tall task for any GM.    

[Honky Cat]

38 minutes ago, CanadianRugby said:

How is it out of context?  It shows the dates right there in the quotes. 

 

Yes, he was talking about turning around the 2013 Canucks to compete.  That's the point, the team should have been rebuilding.  That plan, was a fail.

 

The 2nd quote shows that the plan was to compete with the elite teams by 2018, it's why money was thrown at free agents to compete right away.  That plan, was a fail. 

 

Now it's 2021 and people are pointing to our shiny core like I'm sure tons of Oiler fans did for years while that core was surrounded, much like ours, by expensive ineffective players.  Now the advantage (of great young players on entry contracts) the Canucks have had is ending, and a new phase begins.  In this phase our core will get paid and the supporting cast needs to vastly improve while getting paid a lot less.   That will be a tall task for any GM.    

No argument from me that they should have been rebuilding, and they sort of wasted 3 years with the 'rebuild on the fly'

I was just clarifying the 'we can turn it around in a hurry' quote, some people perceive, or state it out of context to mean Benning saying "I can turn the franchise around in a hurry'

 Also ,no argument that he screwed up the cap flexibility, although,I'm not nearly as pessimistic as you as to where this team is headed.

You and kanuck25 are fully HF boards type reasoning (you'd both fit in well there), I also find the complete Benning homerism ridiculous..I guess I'm in the middle somewhere.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Honky Cat

[Honky Cat]

5 minutes ago, Honky Cat said:

 

 

Delete /double post

Edited February 18, 2021 by Honky Cat

[CanadianRugby]

14 minutes ago, Honky Cat said:

No argument from me that they should have been rebuilding, and they sort of wasted 3 years with the 'rebuild on the fly'

I was just clarifying the 'we can turn it around in a hurry' quote, some people perceive, or state it out of context to mean Benning saying "I can turn the franchise around in a hurry'

 Also ,no argument that he screwed up the cap flexibility, although,I'm not nearly as pessimistic as you as to where this team is headed.

You and kanuck25 are fully HF boards type reasoning (you'd both fit in well there), I also find the complete Benning homerism ridiculous..I guess I'm in the middle somewhere.

Yeah supposedly HF is very anti Benning.  The platforms I use, I see as... CDC (cheerleading forum), reddit (most realistic forum) and twitter (very anti-Benning).  Though you're right, I've been hating on this guy since the Vrbata & Miller signings.  

[iceman64]

3 hours ago, kanucks25 said:

You talking about that team that was mostly composed of the apparent "wasteland" Benning inherited?

 

What a concept.

 

Crazy how a 101 point playoff team can be made up of players that allegedly have no value.

well we don't have a cup do we? back to talking about our old cream puff team are we?  

[iceman64]

37 minutes ago, CanadianRugby said:

Yeah supposedly HF is very anti Benning.  The platforms I use, I see as... CDC (cheerleading forum), reddit (most realistic forum) and twitter (very anti-Benning).  Though you're right, I've been hating on this guy since the Vrbata & Miller signings.  

well Benning is here to stay so you might want to consider heading over to the Oiler's, Flames board or the Kraken's new one when it's up and running 

[kanucks25]

49 minutes ago, iceman64 said:

well we don't have a cup do we? back to talking about our old cream puff team are we?  

What exactly is your point?

 

13 minutes ago, iceman64 said:

well Benning is here to stay so you might want to consider heading over to the Oiler's, Flames board or the Kraken's new one when it's up and running 

Gatekeeping. Great stuff.

 

Thought I graduated from high school long ago but judging by the maturity level of some people here it seems I may have gone back in time.

[iceman64]

2 hours ago, kanucks25 said:

What exactly is your point?

 

Gatekeeping. Great stuff.

 

Thought I graduated from high school long ago but judging by the maturity level of some people here it seems I may have gone back in time.

truth hurts? it's called reality..  you want to go back where we were as a high skilled soft cream puff team or not? answer the question then.. at least JB knew we lacked toughness but everytime he recognizes a need he at least goes after it and actually have a core built team and incoming assets to surround them with and he's almost done and Aq is smart enough to let him get it done.. like it or not, end of story.. 

Edited February 18, 2021 by iceman64